Pool table and shuffle board games for residents.
Photo by Marcy de Luna

View from the pool deck.
Photo by Marcy de Luna

Vinyl listening room and record collection for residents.
Photo by Marcy de Luna

Lobby.
Photo by VJ Arizpe

Aris Market Square.
Photo by Bryan Malloch

Hines, the local real estate firm widely known for developing several downtown office buildings and the Galleria, has launched its first residential downtown high-rise, Aris Market Square. The project is in collaboration with Ziegler Cooper Architects and the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission. Yesterday, CultureMap got an inside look at the 327,345-square-foot building, located at at 409 Travis St., and found out details on what's still to come.

Guests who enter the first floor lobby of the the posh 32-story, all-rental apartment tower will find a working clock sculpture positioned prominently on the wall behind the main leasing desk. A nod to neighboring Market Square Park, the piece is meant to call to mind the Market Square Clock Tower at the corner of Congress and Travis.

Elevating the plush factor of the residential tower is a roster of stellar amenities, including a pet parlor with a grooming station, bike repair room, private garden with street access near MetroRail’s Preston Station, and a food hall.

Head up to the ninth level to find sweeping views of downtown, an open-air terrace with lounge seating, outdoor fireplace, pool, laptop lounge with adjacent library, state-of-the-art fitness center, and a vinyl listening room complete with a curated record collection. Works by local and Texas artists, including Houston’s Taft McWhorter, are spread throughout the property in tribute to the individualism and creativity of the Houston community.

Although pricing for the apartments at Aris Market Square runs a cool $1,745 to $10,450 per month, according to Hines director David Haltom, Houstonians have been snapping up the rental units on the market since September. "We've been seeing great velocity since we opened for occupancy after Harvey. We are about 20 percent leased," he told CultureMap.

Haltom added that he's encouraged by lease activity this holiday season (which is not traditionally a time for prime leasing). "We really haven’t seen velocity slow down," he says. "We are feeling good that about that."